When Trevor Moran opened Locust as a take-out spot in 12 South in the fall of 2020, the menu only featured about three or four items, most notably his extremely well-made dumplings and inventive takes on Japanese shaved ice, or kakigori.
At the time, he was leaning into the Japanese tradition of executing one or two things nearly perfectly, wanting it to be a place to grab dumplings and a beer. And those dumplings—pale, cozily cinched half-moons of dough hugging a center of brightly seasoned, locally sourced pork—are pretty close to perfect. (Even he admits it.)
But Moran tends to follow his whims. Once the restaurant opened for dine-in service six months later (with an ever-changing, high-volume playlist), the experience evolved. The team added a pristine beef tartare that’s served with warm rice layered with a pickled egg aïoli, a small pile of nori wraps, and freeze-dried capers for DIY wrapping, as well as compressed, marinated cucumbers and dried herb-flecked sea salt for dipping.
From there, Moran kept things fun by showcasing off-the-menu specials—he regularly flies in very small shipments of excellent seafood, like just-harvested razor clams, fatty tuna belly, and whole Dover sole, which his crew might embellish with a seaweed and crab txakoli butter sauce, a little caviar and uni, and a fistful of herbs—a far cry from the less-is-more mentality that launched Locust.
Now the focus is less on dumplings and more on seafood and the many ways Moran and crew can coax excellence out of each product. Intentional or not, the restaurant is built for this kind of play. The compact but efficient open kitchen has uncluttered countertops while the eight-table dining room, with its living greenery and minimal decor, means the menu must remain tight and straightforward.
Moran says he’d like to keep seafood as the focus, and may even get back to his own Irish and European roots of cooking. But rest assured that wherever he takes the restaurant from here, the food will be worth returning for again and again.
CAN’T MISS
Appetizers: Steamed pork dumplings with chili oil
Main: Beef tartare with pickled egg aÏoli and nori wraps
Dessert: Almond milk shaved ice with salted caramel drizzle
